Another email, apparently sent from Kara Pagel, who identified herself "as a citizen and dog owner," also called for the city to focus punishing bad owners.

"I can own a dangerous gun on my property, I can own a dangerous snake, and I can own a small breed dog that barks constantly at the neighbors and those are OK, but a pit bull isn't? Where is the line and how many rights will you take away?"

A volunteer from an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit called DogsBite.org forwarded an article from a plastic surgeon that talked about the severity of pit bull bites.

"The very existence of a non-profit organization to provide comfort and support to children mauled by dogs speaks volumes about a growing public health issues," said the letter signed by Bonny T. Lee.

Another email, signed by Jeffrey Ziegelmann, advocated for council to "protect our citizens."

He referenced the July incident in which two toddlers and their mother were attacked by their neighbor's pit bulls, as well as a mauling that occurred in Indiana.

CLOSE

Christin and Travis Atwell talk about the attack by two dogs they called pit bulls that injured their children, Evy and Lane Atwell.
Andrew Jansen/News-Leader

In August, the children's father, Travis Atwell, made an emotional appeal for council to prohibit people from owning pit bulls within city limits. The mother of a young girl who was attacked by pit bulls in Taney County also spoke at the meeting.

An email signed by Christina Romaniak asked council to "stop feeding into the hysteria."

"After Cujo was released, people wanted to ban St. Bernards. After a doberman attack promoted by the media, people wanted to ban dobies. After a highly publicized attack by Rottweilers, people wanted to ban Rottweilers," Romaniak wrote.

The ban

If passed, the ban would be phased in gradually. People who register their pit bulls before Oct. 1 would be allowed to renew their registrations and keep their pets. No new registrations will be accepted after the deadline, and any unregistered pit bulls found in city limits "may be seized and disposed of."

The ordinance would also place more severe penalties on owners who break the pit bull rules.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department provided council with data about dog bites last month.

The four dog breeds with the most frequently reported bites from 2015 to 2017 are listed below:

38 reported bites from pit bulls

23 reported bites from German shepherds

20 reported bites from terriers

18 reported bites from Labrador retrievers

The health department reported that the majority of the most severe dog attacks (levels four and five on the Dunbar Scale) came from pit bulls.

A common criticism from pit bull advocates is that a few different dog breeds can fall under the umbrella term of "pit bull."

According to the health department, the "pit bull" category includes pit bull mixes and dogs with "pit bull characteristics," based on United Kennel Club standards for the American Pit Bull Terrier.

City spokeswoman Cora Scott told the News-Leader that in case of a large crowd, there will be two overflow rooms outfitted with screens to show a live video stream of the meeting on Monday night.